D&D (2024) Early access to 2024 books in DnDBeyond is tied to subscription tier.

[mamba]

It is a benefit to people who pay for the Master tier. That seems fairly clear.

if they preordered they got that before as well, so it is not a new benefit for them. What it is, is a new restriction for anyone who is not a subscriber.

You are trying to sell a new restriction for non-subscribers as a new benefit for subscribers…

Not getting something 2 weeks early is not really a restriction IMO.

of course it is, as people could get that before for just preordering without also being subscribers.

It is not a major issue, I grant you that, but if you take something away that I previously had access to, then I am not sure what else you expect me to call this than a new restriction

You can still get it, you just have to wait like almost everyone else.

oh yeah, because the next logical step in this is for me to buy the product and not get it

 

[dave2008]

I still say given enough time, they will all but remove print books. Like at most it will be "buy digital and a print on demand book from us!" Why give your FLGS a cut when they can make all the profit?

Personally I think that is a different argument and one the entire print industry is dealing with.

 

[dave2008]

if they preordered they got that before as well, so it is not a new benefit for them. What it is, is a new restriction for anyone who is not a subscriber.

That was not the standard until recently IIRC. Not that it really matters to me. I don't look at it relative to the past, but what is offered now.

You are trying to sell a new restriction for non-subscribers as a new benefit for subscribers…

It is not a restriction. It is not preventing my from getting anything.

of course it is, as people could get that before for just preordering without also being subscribers.

Only recently IIRC. I see no requirement for WotC to offer something early just for preordering.

It is not a major issue, I grant you that, but if you take something away that I previously had access to, then I am not sure what else you expect me to call this than a new restriction

It is not a restriction because it is not restricting you from getting anything. You just have to wait. Perhaps it is an incentive to buy it at your local game store.

oh yeah, because the next logical step in this is for me to buy the product and not get it

Sorry, I don't understand what you are suggesting here.

 

[mamba]

That was not the standard until recently IIRC.

they did not have preorders until recently… it has been standard since they had them

I don't look at it relative to the past, but what is offered now.

that is rather naive… you have to consider precedent if you want to understand people’s reaction to a change

It is not a restriction. It is not preventing my from getting anything.

you are not getting the books early without being a subscriber, but you used to, so it very much is a new restriction. That you are able to get the books at all does not change that

Being able to vote at 18 is a restriction for a 16 year old, even if all they have to do is wait. Getting access later is a restriction in itself.

I see no requirement for WotC to offer something early just for preordering

that is different from taking early access away not being a restriction. Of course they are not required to offer it, but taking something away that you used to offer generally does not go over well

The way I see it, if you want me to preorder, you usually need to offer an incentive

 

[DarkCrisis]

It is a benefit to people who pay for the Master tier. That seems fairly clear.

Not getting something 2 weeks early is not really a restriction IMO. You can still get it, you just have to wait like almost everyone else.

It's still a net negative. Less people get something that more people got before.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

A general issue with tier systems is that they give companies more levers for increasing prices or degrading default quality. While there is obviously a need to increase baseline prices over time due to rising costs, tier systems are how you end up with ads in everything unless you pay an ever-growing premium.

I am happily surprised we don't have ads on D&D Beyond yet.

 

[dave2008]

It's still a net negative. Less people get something that more people got before.

And before that, no one got it. So really a net positive in the long run. Also, everyone can still get it! We are talking about waiting, not making it something impossible to get.

Though, I just really care about the current moment. I don't care about what was happening previously so much.

 

[dave2008]

they did not have preorders until recently… it has been standard since they had them

and now it is not. Also, Amazon has had preorders for a long time for D&D books and, IIRC, you got nothing for those.

that is rather naive… you have to consider precedent if you want to understand people’s reaction to a change

no you don't. Lots of benefits and issues with that approach though.

you are not getting the books early without being a subscriber, but you used to, so it very much is a new restriction. That you are able to get the books at all does not change that

Not to me. But if you want to call it a restriction fine. Just not something for me to waste any more time on.

Being able to vote at 18 is a restriction for a 16 year old, even if all they have to do is wait. Getting access later is a restriction in itself.

This is not at all comparable to voting. Your not going to miss an election by waiting 2 weeks to buy a book.

that is different from taking early access away not being a restriction. Of course they are not required to offer it, but taking something away that you used to offer generally does not go over well

Ok, but how does it look going forward?

The way I see it, if you want me to preorder, you usually need to offer an incentive

Then don't preorder. That is why I suggested is a soft endorsement / benefit for in store sales.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

But I dint see the early access based on tier, individually, as crappy. I don’t get it.

Is enshitification going to happen, yea, it’s a corporation. Has it happened at all, yea, I think so.

I don't really understand how you can hold both opinions at once - to me they seem to contradict each other. I guess that's the disconnect here. For me "enshitification" as you correctly put it is always crappy. I feel like it's worth accepting it's bad and adding it to the list of "bad things" rather than just shrugging at it. We don't need to riot or anything, but I feel like it goes in the Dammaz Kron as it were.

 

[DarkCrisis]

And before that, no one got it. So really a net positive in the long run.

Though, I just really care about the current moment. I don't care about what was happening previously so much.

That is an interesting viewpoint to have. Take away a starving persons food and hey no big lose, they didn't have a sandwich before.